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Researchers in a new field of science called chronobiology are studying the body’s natural rhythms, or patterns, to find out just what makes people sleepy. Chronobiologists have learned that a person’s temperature, blood pressure, and hormone levels go up and down in a regular pattern that repeats itself every twenty-four hours. The daily cycle of body temperature affects how a person feels at different times during the day. For most people, body temperature begins to drop in the early evening. This slows other bodily functions and makes you feel drowsy. Around daybreak, body temperature rises and you begin to feel more alert. 

Many chronobiologists now think that the time of day a person gets drug treatment for cancer affects the success of treatment. Other studies are revealing that we do different types of work better at different times of the day. Physical coordination, for example, peaks during the afternoon. And some studies show that eight to nine hours of sleep every night might not be necessary. Frequent naps might work just as well or even better. Findings such as these are helping people to organize their lives so that they work with their natural rhythms rather than against them.